Scottish Executive

Agriculture

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish its draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill and whether the Scottish ministers intend to provide tenant farmers with a pre-emptive right to purchase their holding from a selling landlord.

Ross Finnie: I am pleased to announce that I am launching the draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill for consultation later today. A 12-week consultation period will follow, with the closing date for responses being Friday 12 July 2002.

  Copies of the consultation paper are being sent to the relevant parliamentary committees and to all MSPs. Further copies will be available from the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre and from our land reform website, at: www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations, following the launch.

  After careful consideration, I have concluded that the bill should provide for the introduction of a pre-emptive right to buy for secure tenants. Within the draft bill document is a chapter which sets out details of my policy intentions. I would very much welcome views on these proposals from anyone with an interest in enhancing rural life. I will consider all responses carefully before provisions that would introduce a pre-emptive right to buy are added to the bill itself.

Ambulance Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the Scottish Ambulance Service’s proposals for modernising its operations (control) rooms functions and for implementing priority-based dispatch.

Malcolm Chisholm: Yes. The Executive supports these proposals and has today advised the Scottish Ambulance Service that it should proceed with the operations rooms changes and with the implementation of priority based dispatch. I, alongside the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, will be making a full statement later today.

Birds

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when its response to the recommendations contained in the report of the UK Raptor Working Group will be made available.

Allan Wilson: The issues arising from the recovery of some bird of prey populations and their impact on game birds and moorland management, and on racing pigeons, were considered by the UK Raptor Working Group in a comprehensive report published in February 2000. In response to question S1W-4163 on 3 February 2000 Sarah Boyack welcomed publication of the report and confirmed that Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) had been asked to provide formal advice to the Executive on the report's recommendations and their implications for Scotland.

  The Executive has now considered the Raptor Working Group report and SNH advice and I have today written to the Chairman of SNH providing him with the Executive's response. Copies of both the letter and the response have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 20123 (letter) and 20122 (response)). The Executive accepts most of the recommendations in the report and is satisfied that the work already under way or planned by SNH, working with other key stakeholders, represents the best way forward for Scotland.

Breastfeeding

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are currently being taken to encourage breastfeeding amongst new mothers.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Health Plan Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change set out our target of 50% of mothers breastfeeding at six weeks by 2005. It also laid out our intention to support breastfeeding by local breastfeeding strategies; implementation of the joint WHO/UNICEF initiative on breastfeeding; raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding through support by peers and professionals, and enhancing the opportunities for women to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.

  The Scottish Breastfeeding Group (SBG) and the Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) are working to promote, support and sustain breastfeeding and this work includes plans to re-run the advertisement Breastmilk: The World’s Best Baby Food during Breastfeeding Awareness Week 12-18 May 2002. HEBS has launched a CD-ROM, Breastfeeding: images from Getting off to a Good Start, which can be used royalty free to promote breastfeeding throughout Scotland.

  The National Breastfeeding Adviser is also working with NHS boards to encourage and increase the incidence and duration of breastfeeding through, for example, the UNICEF Baby Friendly initiatives. Most NHS boards are now implementing a breastfeeding strategy. There are also several Peer Support programmes across many NHS board areas and breastfeeding initiatives are part of a number of Social Inclusion Partnership programmes.

Communities Scotland

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) people and (b) agencies have been engaged in a consultative capacity by and on behalf of Communities Scotland since its inception and at what cost.

Iain Gray: I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  A total of 27 consultancies have been employed by Communities Scotland since its inception, details of which are given in the following table. The total cost to Communities Scotland is £502,778.

  


Consultancy 
  

Project 
  

Contract Value 
  



Area Based Studies 
  



EKOS Ltd. 
  

Study into jobs and training opportunities from construction 
  in Glasgow North 
  

£8,187 
  



ODS 
  

Evaluation of Care and Repair small repairs project in 
  Glasgow 
  

£5,000 
  



Glasgow University 
  

Study to consider the feasibility of a housing market database 
  drawing on Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre data 
  

£8,000 
  



Eric Watterson 
  

Technical consultancy services on various development projects 
  

£8,739 
  



Dearle and Henderson 
  

Cliffburn Masterplan – community consultation and 
  preparation of regeneration masterplan for Cliffburn, Arbroath 
  

£16,000 
  



EDAW 
  

Regenerating Stobswell – Feasibility Report 
  

£17,000 
  



NFO System 3 and DTZ Pied 
  

Perth and Kinross and Angus Housing Needs Study 
  

£30,000 
  



Ecological Design Group 
  

Evaluation of 14 new low energy homes for rent at Kincardine 
  O’Neil 
  

£5,000 
  



ODS 
  

Research into BTS Prioritisation in Inverclyde 
  

£9,958 
  



ODS 
  

Appointed a set of residents advisors for residents in 
  the Moorpark area 
  

£5,000 
  



Russell Rowbotham Associates 
  

Appointed a set of residents advisors for residents in 
  the Shortroods area 
  

£5,000 
  



HCH Chapman Hendy Consultants 
  

Research into RSL delivery in Edinburgh 
  

£5,000 
  



Ernst & Young 
  

Discussion Paper looking at low or nil subsidy provision 
  of affordable housing 
  

£10,000 
  



Research 
  



Eddy Adams 
  

Project to scope out Communities Scotland potential role 
  in engaging in international networking activity. 
  

£7,486 
  



Policy Development 
  



Segal Quince Wicksteed 
  

Review of Wider Role Policy 
  

£33,346 
  



Eddy Adams 
  

Consultancy services at workshops and meetings to develop 
  a Digital Inclusion action plan for Communities Scotland 
  

£3,916 
  



Training Support 
  



Michael Bell Associates 
  

Development of electronic training programme for housing 
  advisors covering areas of housing law 
  

£16,862 
  



Shelter Scotland 
  

Delivery of training support for electronic training programme 
  for housing advisors 
  

£7,990 
  



Regulation and Inspection 
  



Employers in Voluntary Housing 
  

Placement of part-time Housing Manager in a poorly performing 
  association 
  

£884 
  



Edinburgh College of Art 
  

Gypsy/Travellers Thematic Studies Literature Review to 
  develop an assessment framework and identify examples of 
  good practice 
  

£4,995 
  



Masons Solicitors 
  

Research to produce guidance of performance standards and 
  procurement 
  

£5,875 
  



Think – Em 
  

Design costs to improve the quality of various annual performance 
  and statistical returns 
  

£2,843 
  



Publications 
  



Laure Paterson 
  

Editing, writing, proofreading HomePoint publications 
  

£3,530 
  



Laure Paterson 
  

Proofreading Communities Scotland draft Corporate Plan 
  for consultation 
  

£100 
  



Laure Paterson 
  

Proofreading of chapters prior to the publication of Housing 
  Economics. 
  

£1,800 
  



University of Dundee 
  

Production of Third Housing Digest Series- Issue 2 and 
  3 
  

£4,000 
  



Global language Services 
  

Translation of basic housing information from English into 
  Cantonese, Punjabi and Urdu for publication on Housing Options 
  website. 
  

£313 
  



Evaluation 
  



Bob Widowson 
  

Evaluation of Scottish National Standards for housing information 
  services. 
  

£7,256 
  



KPMG 
  

Performance management - development of Key Performance 
  Indicators for Communities Scotland 
  

£3,623 
  



Performance Improvement 
  



Thirdwave 
  

Development of Housing Quality Assessment Programme for 
  refurbishment (jointly with ECA). 
  

£33,500 
  



Edinburgh College of Art 
  

Development of Housing Quality Assessment Programme for 
  refurbishment (jointly with Thirdwave) 
  

£21,000 
  



PA Consulting 
  

To develop an e-business strategy with supporting business 
  cases to help Communities Scotland progress towards Modernising 
  Government. 
  

£200,000 
  



IME UK Ltd 
  

Development of menu-based reports for the pilot of Scottish 
  Statistics website 
  

£10,575

Council Tax

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any representations to Her Majesty's Government through the Inter-Departmental Group on Older People to reduce the council tax benefit taper which requires pensioners to pay 20p in every pound earned from their occupational or private pensions over the income support level towards council tax and what assessment it has made of the impact on poverty levels among older people such a change may have.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues. The UK Ministerial Sub-Committee on Older People has replaced the Inter Ministerial Group on Older People and the Minister of State at the Scotland Office is a member of the committee.

Employment

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with the Ministry of Defence about job losses at the Faslane and Coulport naval dockyards.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in light of the job losses at the Faslane and Coulport naval dockyards given the existing level of unemployment in the area and the impact these job losses will have on the local economy.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to the Ministry of Defence and Her Majesty’s Government to provide substantial resources for a job creation programme for the areas affected by redundancies at Faslane and Coulport naval dockyards.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Ministry of Defence on a wide range of issues including the Faslane and Coulport naval bases. The scale of any job reductions and consequently the deployment of resources to mitigate the effect of job reductions cannot be confirmed until Babcock Naval Services has reviewed its requirements. Officials at Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire (SED) are seeking to assess the potential impact of any redundancies and SED’s Chief Executive will meet the naval director of the Clyde complex later this month. Once the Scottish Executive has received a report of the outcome of this meeting, it will consider convening a meeting with interested parties to decide upon appropriate action.

Enterprise

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to the microcredit programme in 2001-02 and what funding will be allocated in (a) 2002-03 and (b) 2003-04.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive has allocated £1 million for the microcredit programme to Scottish Enterprise over a three-year period. In year 2001-02 Scottish Enterprise spent £70,000. The balance of funding is expected to be utilised in years 2002-03 and 2003-04, and into 2004-05.

Enterprise

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the microcredit programme is exclusively targeted at women and, if so, in what way and how the programme targets match the terms of the announcement made on International Women's Day on 8 March 2000.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The microcredit programme is not exclusively targeted at women as sex discrimination legislation generally prohibits restricting funding schemes in this way. It is expected, however, that the majority of recipients of microcredit will be women as proposed in the original announcement. Details of the programme are available through Small Business Gateway outlets.

Enterprise

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been disbursed under the microcredit programme in each year from 2000-01 to date.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The first tranche of funding - £70,000 - was spent in financial year 2001-02 during February-March 2002. Disbursement of funding is a matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4927 by Ross Finnie on 21 March 2002, what grants have been awarded to date under the 2002-06 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance programmes, broken down by geographical region.

Ross Finnie: As at 11 April, under the 2000-06 FIFG programmes, £4.95 million has been awarded to 52 projects in the Highlands and Islands Transitional Objective 1 area and £4.52 million to 44 projects in the rest of Scotland. Details of individual awards are set out in the Executive's press releases SE 1743/2001 of 24 July 2001 and SE 5285/2002 of 4 February 2002, which can be viewed on the Executive's website.

Fisheries

Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will announce the key performance targets it has set for Fisheries Research Services for 2002-03.

Allan Wilson: I have set the following targets for Fisheries Research Services for the financial year 2002-03.

  Delivery of Service

  To achieve 93 per cent of the performance targets set in the Schedules to the Service Level Agreement.

  To achieve 82 per cent of the milestones agreed for research and development projects.

  To achieve an output of 0.7 publications per member of staff.

  To produce 18 information leaflets and eight major articles in the industry press.

  Quality of Service

  To submit the scientific work of the Freshwater Fisheries Programme to a peer review during 2002-03, and to put in place an agreed action plan to implement recommendations by the end of March 2003.

  To achieve accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service of the monitoring programmes for three areas of work and complete the re-assessment inspection by March 2003.

  Efficiency Targets

  90 per cent of costs to be recovered from external customers (other than those agreed to be undertaken at marginal or shared costs), with limit of £4 million.

  To restrict administrative staff costs to a maximum of 17 per cent of the total staff costs.

  To achieve a research vessel utilisation of 510 days per year, operating at a daily cost of £12,800 for Scotia and £2,800 for Clupea.

  To produce accounts on target, enabling the 2001-02 FRS Report and Accounts to be published in July.

  To achieve cash releasing efficiency gains to the value of 1 per cent of FRS’ budget.

  These targets will provide a sound basis for evaluating performance by establishing a time series for certain indicators and by requiring external scrutiny by accreditors and scientific peers. I am confident that the targets will lead to further improvement in the quality and timeliness of scientific advice provided by the agency.

Hospitals

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, whether it was consulted by Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust prior to the trust’s decision to extend the closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital indefinitely; on what date it was informed of the trust’s decision, and what advice it provided to the trust on the matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. The health department was not, therefore, consulted on the decision to extend the transfer of in-patient paediatric services from Monklands Hospital to Wishaw General Hospital. The health department was advised of this decision by Mr Martin Hill, the Chief Executive of Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust, on 18 March and provided no advice to the trust on what is a matter for local determination.

Hospitals

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, what studies have been carried out in regard to the impact that the indefinite closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital will have on those from the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth parliamentary constituency who use the service; where such services will now be available, and by what means people without access to private transport will be able to access them.

Malcolm Chisholm: These are matters for NHS Lanarkshire.

Hospitals

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22206 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, whether it was consulted by North Lanarkshire Council prior to Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s decision to extend the closure of paediatric in-patient services at Monklands Hospital indefinitely; on what date any such consultation took place, and what advice it provided to the council on the matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. The health department was not, therefore, consulted by North Lanarkshire Council on the decision to extend the transfer of in-patient paediatric services from Monklands Hospital to Wishaw General Hospital and provided no advice to the council on what is a matter for local determination.

Land Reform

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the Scottish Law Commission to report on the law of the foreshore and seabed.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Law Commission published a Discussion Paper (No 113) on the Law of the Foreshore and Seabed on 19 April 2001, inviting comments by 31 July 2001. The commission have been asked to report by 31 December 2002, and are presently on track to do so.

Local Government Finance

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates, or any other returns by local authorities, identify (a) planned or (b) actual transfers of balances or reserves between local authorities' Housing Revenue Accounts and General Funds; whether such transfers are subject to the permission of the Scottish ministers, and whether it will give details, using current prices, of all such transfers approved by ministers or reported by local authorities, in respect of each authority, for each year since the current local authorities came into existence.

Peter Peacock: Transfers to (+) and from (-) local authority Housing Revenue Accounts, both in cash terms and in real terms, are shown in the following tables. The figures for years 1996-97 to 1999-2000 are from Local Financial Returns (LFRs) and for years 2000-01 and 2001-02 from Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates.

  Councils do not need consent to transfer funds from their Housing Revenue Accounts to general funds. The General Funds Contribution Limits Order prevents councils transferring general funds into their Housing Revenue Accounts, except in the case of particular circumstances when the HRA has an end year deficit.

  Table 1:

  


Cash (£000) 
  

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Scotland 
  

-1,871 
  

-435 
  

-19,755 
  

-11,297 
  

-2,073 
  

-1,218 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

-200 
  

-200 
  

-710 
  

-370 
  

-300 
  

0 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-410 
  

-299 
  

-127 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1,691 
  

-558 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-400 
  

-500 
  

-1,250 
  

-1,000 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

164 
  

66 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City1


0 
  

0 
  

-19,094 
  

-6,827 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Highland 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-1,000 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

-2,000 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-458 
  

-1,500 
  

-1,000 
  



Moray 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

329 
  

-300 
  

-650 
  

-1,285 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

-99 
  

0 
  

0 
  

782 
  

782 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-248 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

322 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



  Source: 1996-97 to 1999-2000 - LFR20 Housing return item 0390 and item 0442.

  2000-01 to 2001-02 – Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimate Returns from councils.

  Note:

  1. Glasgow City Council's amounts in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 were one-off transfers to offset the debt charges, saved by the HRA and incurred by the General Fund in relation to the demolished properties debt transfer from HRA to Non-HRA.

  Table 2:

  


Real Terms1 (£000) 
  

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Scotland 
  

-2,066 
  

-466 
  

-20,589 
  

-11,496 
  

-2,073 
  

-1,188 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

-221 
  

-214 
  

-740 
  

-377 
  

-300 
  

0 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-427 
  

-304 
  

-127 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1,762 
  

-568 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-417 
  

-509 
  

-1,250 
  

-976 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

176 
  

69 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City2


0 
  

0 
  

-19,900 
  

-6,947 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Highland 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-1,018 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

-2,209 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-466 
  

-1,500 
  

-976 
  



Moray 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

363 
  

-321 
  

-677 
  

-1,308 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

-106 
  

0 
  

0 
  

782 
  

763 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

-258 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

322 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



  Source: 1996-97 to 1999-2000 - LFR20 Housing return item 0390 and item 0442.

  2000-01 to 2001-02 – Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimate Returns from councils.

  Notes:

  1. Real terms figures are calculated using the Treasury GDP deflator at 2000-01 prices.

  2. Glasgow City Council's amounts in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 were one-off transfers to offset the debt charges saved by the HRA and incurred by the General Fund in relation to the demolished properties debt transfer from HRA to Non-HRA.

People with Disabilities

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it makes to produce documents in alternative formats to allow easier access for people with disabilities.

Malcolm Chisholm: If a publication is being aimed at an audience who have disabled needs, the department producing the publication would consider supplying the alternative formats of Braille, audio tape and large print. Where an audience includes groups who would benefit from a 14 point text, or Plain English writing then these are also often employed in the main document. All publications are produced at 12 point, in accordance with the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act (the act does not stipulate rules as to font sizes etc).

  If there are no special needs groups with particular format needs, and no stated demand for this, departments have the option of producing the master document with a statement on the reverse cover to the effect that alternative formats are available on request. These alternative versions are then produced on a demand basis.

  Each document and its audience is considered individually, and in deciding on the most suitable publication approach the Scottish Executive aims to take into consideration all pertinent factors including the needs of the audience, the subject and context of the document, and appropriate use of finances.

Planning

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it is likely to incur in legal fees as a result of the appeal to the Court of Session against its decision to refuse planning permission for a superquarry at Lingerbay, and how much of this figure represents the legal costs for the developer, Lafarge Redland Aggregates Ltd.

Ms Margaret Curran: This information is not yet available. When all the accounts have been submitted, I will write to the member with the necessary details and place a copy of my letter in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Planning

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it is likely to incur in legal fees as a result of the appeal to the Court of Session against its decision to refuse planning permission for the Heathfield Road development in Ayr.

Ms Margaret Curran: This information is not yet available. However, once Counsels' accounts are submitted, I will write to the member with the necessary details and place a copy of my letter in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Planning

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what further planning guidance it intends to produce in regard to planning applications for wind farms.

Ms Margaret Curran: Planning policy on such proposals is contained in National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 6: Renewable Energy Developments , which was published in November 2000.

  In addition, we published the revised Planning Advice Note (PAN) 45: Renewable Energy Technologies in January 2002. PAN 45 supports the policy framework set out in NPPG 6 by providing advice on good practice and other relevant information.

  We have no current plans to review NPPG 6 and PAN 45. Both documents are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 18113 and 18913 respectively).

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use to assess the potential impact on its information technology policies, as set out in Connecting Scotland: our broadband future , of the proposals set out in Reducing Disruption from Utilities’ Road Works – A Consultation Paper .

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use to assess the potential impact on social exclusion of the proposals set out in Reducing Disruption from Utilities’ Road Works – a Consultation Paper .

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive's consultation paper Reducing Disruption from Utilities’ Road Works invited comments on disruption from road works carried out by utility companies and asked for suggestions on how to alleviate any perceived problems. Once the responses to this consultation paper have been analysed, we will be in a better position to assess whether there are any such problems, and their scale. Thereafter, we will consider what action might be appropriate.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what bilateral meetings have taken place between its Transport Division and Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Division to discuss  Reducing Disruption from Utilities’ Road Works – A Consultation Paper .

Lewis Macdonald: Policy areas throughout the Scottish Executive, including the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Division (ELLD), were consulted before the consultation paper was issued. No bilateral meetings between Transport Officials and ELLD have taken place to date. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24333 today.

Roads

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15784 by Sarah Boyack on 11 June 2001, whether any evidence has come to light that the out-going trunk road operating companies neglected the clearing of litter from motorways during the final months of the old contracts and whether any additional payments have been requested by, or made to, the new operating companies.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive and the Performance Audit Group have investigated the evidence provided by the new operating companies and reviewed the actions taken by the previous trunk road operators in regard to the clearing of litter from motorways. The Executive’s position on the evidence presented is that there is no justification for meeting the claims for additional payments submitted by the operating companies.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing its consultation document Community Budgeting: A consultation on local services and community engagement .

Iain Gray: The publication and printing of the consultation document Community Budgeting: A consultation on local services and community engagement has to date cost £778. In addition, the distribution of the consultation document has so far cost an estimated £209 and the cost of translation currently stands at £864.

Sport

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with plans to review the location of  sportscotland’s headquarters as part of its general relocation policy.

Dr Elaine Murray: As recommended in last year’s organisational review of  sportscotland and following the development of a remit with the Executive,  sportscotland has appointed PMP Consultancy to carry out a property review and facilities strategy study. A key part of that review will consider further the options for the future location of  sportscotland’s headquarters taking account of the Executive’s policy on location and re-location of public sector jobs. A report on this is due at the end of July.

Sustainable Development

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to announce its sustainable development indicators.

Ross Finnie: We will publish a Scottish Executive statement on sustainable development soon. This document will include a list of the indicators we will adopt to monitor progress towards sustainable development.